His partner, Debbie Keogh, received a hand-written journal in the post the following day entitled These Are My Last Words, in which he told her: "I want to go off and see what's on the other side."

Mr Obee's death hit the "croppie" fraternity, based at the Barge Inn in Honeystreet, Wiltshire, very hard, it emerged today, bringing about a slump in activity by the "landscape artists" - vandals to some - in what is traditionally peak season.

The lack of circles this year has baffled some who are convinced they are the work of a paranormal force, but recently fields near Honeystreet have seen two designs appear in Mr Obee's honour, a friend said after today's hearing in Swindon.

The inquest was told the death and what lay beyond it - spirituality, discussing world affairs and making crop circles - were passions shared by Mr Obee and his friend Lee Woodstock, with whom he co-wrote a book called A New World Order: The Much Wider Design.

Mr Woodstock, of Pewsey, Wiltshire, told the court: "He (Mr Obee) believed that there was no such thing as death, that death was just an illusion.

"Paul said he looked forward to death. He became eager to experience it. He said he had learned all there was to learn and that he was ready for the next evolutionary step."

Mr Obee was found dead in his Volkswagen Polo on May 5 by a walker on a remote country track near Erlestoke, Wiltshire. The engine was running, a pipe feeding exhaust fumes into the car which contained two suicide notes.

His partner of eight years, Ms Keogh, a mother-of-three from Horton, near Devizes, said Mr Obee had suffered depression in the past.

In tears, she said that although he had expressed an interest in experiencing death, she was surprised he had gone through with it.

Death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning and Nigel Brookes, assistant deputy coroner for Wiltshire, recorded a verdict of suicide.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Obee's friend Andrew Byrne, 41, who lives near Marlborough, said: "There was a slump in crop circle-making after Paul's death. The community of circle-makers was whacked by his death because we're all quite close. People just didn't have the want to go out and make them."

In recent weeks, however, a jester had appeared at Eastfield, near Alton Priors, in recognition of Mr Obee's nickname, the Fool, he said. A shooting star with hearts trailing off it had also been made as a tribute at Milk Hill, near Alton Barnes.

Mr Byrne said plans were afoot among regulars at the Barge Inn for a big design in Mr Obee's memory next summer.

He said another reason for this year's lack of activity was that another prominent circle-maker had moved to Portugal.

Of the wacky stories that surround the circles, he added: "These 'researchers' make money by telling people made-up stories, in lectures, about how the circles were made by aliens. There are quite a few crop circle-makers who get quite p***** off with it."

The circles are made, usually at night, with planks of wood to flatten the crops. They attract tourists from around the world, many of whom believe the circles have mystical vibes.